I Promised You Anywhere
by thedragonqueensmistress
Summary: In a mad dash to save Clara from a time rift, the Doctor struggles as Clara finds love in an unexpected place. Will the Doctor's friendship be enough for her? mild romance, lesbian, femslash


The heavy churn, swoosh, rush as the Tardis lands off course, as usual, woke Clara this day. "He never seems to sleep," she thought. She slipped her smooth legs into her stockings as she rubbed sleep from her eyes wondering where they could have possibly landed. She then shrugged into her blouse, pulling a short skirt up over it. After splashing water on her face, brushing her teeth, and running her fingers through her hair, she made her way to the entrance of the Tardis still tucking in her shirt as she walked. As she entered the room, he looked up from the console with a smirk. "Oh, did we finally wake you?" he chided not respecting a human's need for sleep. However, Clara was used to these constant reproaches from the Doctor and did not give in. She simply smiled and muttered something about her beauty sleep. The Doctor gave her that approving wink, motioned to the door and said, "shall we?"

The Tardis had apparently responded to a distress call explaining the sudden landing; although, upon opening the doors both Clara and the Doctor found a quiet, stillness—anything but distress. The Tardis doors opened to a large, grassy promenade sheltered by manicured shrubs surrounding a still, glassy lake. The Tardis had landed in a quintessential English garden. The Doctor held out his hand, offering to take Clara on a stroll which Clara graciously accepted. Clara was looking forward to a quiet adventure. As fun as traveling with the Doctor can be, sometimes Clara looked forward to easy days. As Clara and the Doctor walked, arm in arm, around the lake they noticed a large manor sitting at the end of the promenade. Closer to the manor, other couples, arm in arm, were wandering the estate grounds. Clara noticed a woman in a long, lace dress and cloche hat walking with a man in a morning jacket who smiled at them although Clara and the Doctor must have appeared oddly dressed. By the looks of the first couple, Clara began to guess that the Tardis has landed in early twentieth century Britain, possibly between the world wars. Although, as she and the Doctor progressed, she noticed two more couples, each appearing with larger skirts, larger hair, and fancier jackets. These multi-time period couples did not seem to bother the Doctor as he began to wander off in the opposite direction, leaving Clara to continue the walk on her own. The Doctor had muttered something about the polarity of a shrub. Sometimes the Doctor had a tendency to wander off, but, it didn't seem to bother Clara. She felt drawn to the manor in a way she could not describe.

Clara began making her way closer to the manor. The garden's flowers and shrubs became more ornate as she reached the manor's steps. She felt silly knocking on the front door, but, by the time she had reached the imposing marble steps she felt like she had already been there before. She knocked on the thick, wooden door and was greeted with the familiarity of any other guest. Clara was not surprised and made her way to the drawing room with ease. She held a gracious and demure demeanor as she sat in the drawing room waiting for her host. Clara never stopped to wonder why she felt so comfortable in that large manor, nor did she feel like she had just arrived. As Clara sat watching the butler carefully set up tea, pouring her a cup that would only sit on the table next to the uneaten stacks of sandwiches and cookies, the drawing room door opened with a startle.

A footman first came in to announce the Lady Catherine. The lady swooped in catching Clara's eye and holding her gaze. Clara felt immediately at home. The lady Catherine sat next to Clara closely on the couch excusing the butler from tea duty. She held Clara's hands in hers. Time paused. Clara's eyes moved from the woman's deep green eyes, she looked at her porcelain skin with her bridge of freckles across her nose. Catherine had her coppery, auburn hair in a large, messy bun with braids and fake hair pieces only maids could have applied. Her collarbone peeped out from under her bodice which draped low on her shoulders and cinched her waist. The fabric was a fine, embroidered silk, as rose-coloured as her cheeks, bustled in the back with pearl notions following down the corset back into the bustle. Clara had never felt more at home as she looked over this beautiful woman. Clara whispered, "Cat, I am so happy you are here."

Clara and Catherine spent hours, days, months wandering the palace, finding secret places to hide. First their wanderings were as simple as perusing the library, admiring the books and the paintings. Soon, without realizing it, Catherine began catching Clara's gaze in ways Clara had never felt before. Clara reached up to take a book off the shelf. Catherine slowly raised her arm to catch Clara's as it fell. The two locked eyes. Clara gave her typical grin, she normally reserved for the Doctor. Although, this time, there was only Catherine and there only had ever been Catherine. Clara slid her hand to the small of Catherine's back pulling her close. The bodice was smooth and thick. Clara ran her hand up to Catherine's neck, tucking her fingers into her hair. Catherine leaned in, kissing Clara as if time had stopped. All that mattered was that kiss at that moment. Soon these kisses filled their days. The two spent all of their days together, lying around that beautiful palace, kissing each other every where, finding new ways to explore each other. Clara never stopped to worry about time, to worry about how she got there, to worry about the Doctor. It was as if time had stopped and the only thing that mattered was that they had each other.

One day, there came a loud bang on the manor's door. Clara was lying in Catherine's arms in the drawing room running her finger across Catherine's thigh through her thick petticoat. The two were intertwined, pressed against each other as they shared their morning tea. In burst the Doctor. "Clara, come with me!" he urgently shouted. He looked down at Clara not understanding why she wasn't responding to him as quickly as he apparently had need for. He did not seem to be startled by her lying in Catherine's arms, but did not seem to care, only wanting to get Clara out as quickly as possible. He grabbed Clara's hand, lifting her out of Catherine's embrace, looked her over with his screwdriver, and shouted, "run."

The Doctor did not give Clara time to make a decision but ran with her, hand in hand, pulling her faster and further away from the manor. As Clara gained distance between herself and the manor her memories grew cloudy and the present grew stronger and faster. Time seemed to be moving more frantically. Her head felt like it was spinning with new information and her old memories came flooding back. Very quickly she remembered her time with the Doctor and her time in the Tardis, her past life. Soon, the Doctor and Clara were back in the Tardis with the door shut. The Doctor ran to his console, flipped switches, pushed buttons, shouted unintelligible things, and the familiar Tardis noise echoed as the Doctor and Clara traveled far from the promenade and the manor and Catherine.

Clara sat in the corner of the console room trying to tie everything together. Once the Tardis was in flight, the Doctor came and kneeled next to Clara placing one hand on her shoulder. He seemed bewildered that Clara appeared shaken by the experience. With a quirky grin on his face and twinkle in his eye, he asked Clara, "Are you alright? Sorry, that was such a short trip but we couldn't stay after I messed around with the time rift. It would have created a paradox since the time needed to find a new equilibrium. That garden sure was beautiful. Always lovely to find a perfect English garden. Where to next?" Clara looked up at him in a daze, she had an overwhelming feeling that she was missing something. The Doctor saw that look of confusion. He then explained to Clara where he had been: "Well, I saw that you were enjoying your walk but I noticed those couples walking near us so I decided to check out the time stabilization of the estate. As I walked in the other direction, I noticed how time sped up. The farther away from the manor, the further and faster time moved. By the other end, the promenade was in the twenty third century. Apparently, some twenty second century scientist had been experimenting with time and produced your typical time rift. This rift caused part of the estate to progress towards the past while his side was progressing towards the future. Although, that is quite interesting in itself, he asked me to help him fix it so I did. If it didn't get fixed, it would have ripped a hole in this universe. We can't have that. So, I helped and then we had to leave and let the equilibrium settle. It was all over in a couple hours. I thought you knew that." Clara looked up at him and blinked. A couple of hours. Why did she feel like she had lost a life time? Or something worth a life time? Clara tried to shrug it off, believing the whole thing to just be another weird adventure with the Doctor.

For weeks, Clara continued traveling with the Doctor, waking up to new adventures, running off to new places. Although, Clara could never shake an overwhelming feeling of sadness. As she woke each morning, slipping on a new outfit, fixing her hair, she stopped and wondered what could have been. But, she never knew what she was wondering about, what she was missing. The time in the estate felt like a long, vivid dream she couldn't quite remember but she knew she had. Sometimes she would wake in the middle of the night remembering how she felt as her lips kissed her soft skin, how the laces of her bodice were loosed letting her heavy dress fall to the floor. But, these memories were faint, mere slips of the mind. She could never grasp what she had lost.

The Doctor noticed this change in Clara since the trip to the estate. Although he had appeared to not see or to not care, the Doctor sees and understands more than he leads on. His aloof, lost boy disguise is that, only a disguise. However, he thought Clara would shake it. He thought Clara would rather be with him discovering the universe together. He had promised her anywhere. He had promised her everywhere. He thought their friendship was enough. He thought he had given her everything.

Clara sat at the foot of her bed, staring at her toes. The Doctor passed by her room, catching Clara in a moment of melancholy. He politely knocked, trying something new by respecting Clara's privacy. Clara slowly lifted her head, with a sad smile to welcome the Doctor in. He sat down next to Clara on her bed and explained what had really happened. The time rift was real. He didn't lie in that case. The trip, for him, had only been a couple of hours. He had been trapped in the fast paced side of the rift, frantically helping the scientist fix his problem and also discover new technologies and enjoy the future. The world he was in was frantic and growing and needed to be slowed down. But, Clara had wandered into the side slowing down. He explained that she had probably lived years of her life there in only a couple of hours. But, that world was slowing down. Slowing to the point where it would have stopped. The Doctor needed to pull her out to save her from becoming trapped. However, the Doctor had lied. He had seen Clara with Catherine. He had seen that she had developed a life. A life with a companion. A life with meaning. A life with love. He had pulled her away from that thinking he was making the right choice for her. He thought she would have forgotten the world as he had fixed the time rift. As Clara heard this story, she felt her heart drop. It was as if someone was explaining a vivid dream you never knew you had but always remembered.

"But, there is something we can do," the Doctor proclaimed as he wrapped up his story. Clara looked at him with hopeful eyes. "There is a chance this woman could still be there. There is a chance we can go back and find her. But, it's going to be a different time. She will be a different woman. I don't know what time the world will have leveled out to," he confessed. Clara did not care. "Take me there," she whispered. He grabbed her hand, leading her to the console. They pulled some toggles, pushed some buttons, the Tardis jerked, the sound echoed. Clara ran to the door opening it to find the freshly manicured promenade waiting. She ran to the manor with the Doctor falling slowly behind. She banged on the door and was ushered in by the butler.

Clara sat waiting in the drawing room. The room looked redecorated but dusty and antique. She sat on the sofa tugging anxiously at her skirt as the butler eyed her suspiciously and prepared tea. A woman entered. Her coppery, auburn hair was pulled up in a messy bun with side swept bangs. Her pearl earrings matched a sleek pearl necklace which laid flat against a black slim tweed dress and cardigan as rose-colored as her cheeks. She paused as she looked at Clara. Initially surprised to hear she had a caller, she immediately understood when she saw Clara's face. She walked over to Clara. Clara could only manage a whisper, "Cat." The two women embraced, finally understanding what they had lost. By this time, the Doctor had caught up to find the two women in the drawing room. He came in and sat down in the armchair next to the sofa. "Ooh, I love nibbles!" he exclaimed as he reached for the biscuit lying on the tea platter. He sipped his tea and ate his biscuit as the two women turned and looked at him. He crossed his legs, leaned back and proclaimed, "All of time and space. Where would you like to go, ladies?"


End file.
